In this Book
- Abroad for Her Country: Tales of a Pioneer Woman Ambassador in the U.S. Foreign Service
- Book
- 2008
- Published by: University of Notre Dame Press
summary
In Abroad for Her Country, Jean M. Wilkowski shares the story of her extraordinary career in the U.S. Foreign Service during the last half of the twentieth century. Born in an era when few women sought professional careers, Wilkowski graduated from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and the University of Wisconsin and then rose through the ranks at the Department of State, from Vice Consul to the first woman U.S. Ambassador to an African country and the first woman acting U.S. Ambassador in Latin America. During her thirty-five-year diplomatic career, Wilkowski was sent first as a vice consul to the Caribbean during World War II, when the Department of State was “even taking in 4-Fs and women.” She moved on to more challenging assignments in Latin America and Europe. For much of her career, she specialized in protecting and promoting U.S. trade and investment interests in such posts as Paris, Milan, Rome, Santiago, and Geneva. She also served during a revolution in Bogotá, attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, and the war between El Salvador and Honduras, when she called in U.S. humanitarian aid for 50,000 war-displaced persons. In 1977 she became coordinator of the U.S. preparation for the 1979 United Nations Conference on Science and Technology in Vienna. She worked closely with Notre Dame president Theodore Hesburgh, head of the U.S. delegation, and accompanied the delegation on its fact-finding visit to the Peoples’ Republic of China.
Table of Contents
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- Early Years, 1926– 44
- pp. 3-17
- Trinidad, BWI, 1944–46 (Vice Consul)
- pp. 18-43
- Milan, Italy, 1949–51 (Vice Consul)
- pp. 71-98
- Santiago, Chile, 1957–59 (Second Secretary)
- pp. 132-150
- Later Years, 1980– 2000
- pp. 319-339
Additional Information
ISBN
9780268096571
Related ISBN(s)
9780268044138
MARC Record
OCLC
712995181
Pages
400
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No